BBC video network: Newspaper Society warns of dangers for local press

The BBC's plan to spend £68m on a network of local video news websites has been condemned by the Newspaper Society, which said the corporation should not be given "free rein to trample over commercial rivals".

Today the BBC Trust launched a consultation on the proposals, which would see 65 websites across the country providing on-demand video news and sport updates.

However, the Newspaper Society - the body which represents local media companies across the UK - said the plan would have a negative effect on the BBC's commercial rivals, which were already providing locally targeted online content.

"The BBC should not spend public money duplicating local news services already provided by existing local media companies," said the Newspaper Society director, David Newell.

"This was acknowledged by the BBC when it withdrew its plans for ultra-local television last year. Yet today's proposals to strengthen the BBC's local online news services are simply ultra local TV in a different guise," Newell added.

"The BBC's 60 local websites already compete head-to-head with regional newspaper websites and its expansion plans, combined with its cross-promotional power, threaten to steal away audiences and undermine the ability of publishers to pursue their own digital development strategies, which are so important to the future of local media in the UK."

Newell said that there were already more than 1,100 local commercial websites in the UK, many of which were affiliated to the country's 1,300 regional and local newspapers, with scores already providing video news.

"The regional press has evolved into a successful multimedia industry in recent years, employing many thousands of journalists and newsgatherers dedicated to providing local news and information to readers and viewers across a multitude of platforms - paid, free, print, online and broadcast," he added.

"The local market is well-served and there is simply no gap which the BBC needs to fill."

Newell said: "We know from the review of bbc.co.uk that the BBC's local news online services offer nothing distinctive and are among the least valued parts of the service.

"Its links to external sites are also considered poor. The BBC has been told by the trust that it must ensure 'it does not stifle enterprise from others who seek to offer excellent online services to the public'.

"The risks to plurality of local news should not be underestimated. The BBC is a highly-valued institution but it should not be given free rein to trample over commercial rivals and become the sole provider of local news in the UK."

Regional newspaper companies are also said to be angry at the BBC's plans, including Trinity Mirror.

Last month, Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey told the House of Lords communications committee the BBC could damage local newspaper businesses if it expanded its local online offering.

"What really concerns me with that is the BBC in the area of ultra-local [news]. Our business in this area, as every other publisher's, is very fragile, embryonic," Bailey told the lords.

"Our concern is that if the BBC moves online evermore locally, without the same commercial constraints as us, it will disrupt these markets making it much more difficult to enter into them.

"We must not allow it to distort these embryonic markets if we believe in a plurality of voice."

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